U.S. confirms first case of Omicron variant in California
The White House says the patient was diagnosed after traveling from South Africa to San Francisco and is experiencing mild symptoms.
The United States has confirmed its first case of the Omicron variant. On December 1 White House adviser Anthony Fauci said in a press briefing that an individual in California has tested positive for the worrisome new SARS-CoV-2 variant.
“We knew that it was just a matter of time before the first case of Omicron would be detected in the United States,” Fauci said.
He told reporters that the patient was fully vaccinated but had not received a booster shot, and that the individual has experienced mild symptoms that are improving. The patient was diagnosed on November 29 after traveling to San Francisco from South Africa on November 22. Fauci added that all the person’s close contacts have tested negative for the virus.
White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said in a statement that the administration believes the existing vaccines will still provide some level of protection against severe illness and that boosters will offer even better protection. “As such, we urge all adults to get their booster shots and to get themselves and their kids vaccinated, if they haven’t already,” he said.
Omicron has been identified in at least 20 countries and now accounts for more than three-quarters of the new cases in South Africa, where it was first detected by the country’s advanced genome sequencing capabilities.
As National Geographic has previously reported, preliminary evidence suggests that Omicron might be more transmissible than previous variants. Still, there’s much that remains unknown about the variant, including how much its mutations will erode vaccine efficacy.
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